


Angels and Acceptance

by AngelsandAcceptance



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AAA - Freeform, Angels and Acceptance, F/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29945934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelsandAcceptance/pseuds/AngelsandAcceptance
Relationships: Castiel/Original Female Character, Dean Winchester/Original Female Character(s)





	1. Lazarus Rising

Chase and Harley sit in their motel room, each invested in their own task. Chase pays meticulous attention to the .9 CZ 75 she is cleaning. Harley is grabbing her gun and a knife, thinking about what else they’ll need when they face the demons. 

_The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You_ by My Chemical Romance plays softly in the background, just loud enough for them to hum along, mumbling the words occasionally to keep their minds off more pressing matters.

“How do you think Sam’s holding up?” Harley asked. She had been worried about the radio silence from her friend. 

Chase freezes slightly, before continuing in her work, shrugging. “I don’t know. I’m sure he’s fine,” she laughs nervously. “He’s always been able to hold his own.”

“Yeah I guess. I’m probably worrying for nothing. You know how I get about my friends. Probably care too much sometimes.”

“Yeah. I know. Remember the last time I forgot my phone on a solo hunt? I swear you were about to burn down the town until you found me.”

“I’d burn down a thousand towns for you, my friend. Hell, I’d burn down Hell for you. Can you burn down Hell? Eh, it’s worth a shot,” Harley shrugs smiling.

Chase laughs, the comment breaking her focus. “Only you, Harley, would _try to burn down Hell_ , and eventually find a way to do it.”

“Why, but of course. I am the _magnificent, amazing, brilliant_ Harley Pawlak after all. Not to toot my own horn,” She laughs. 

“You are so tooting your own horn, don’t kid yourself.”

“I always kid myself. It’s the best way to live.”

“Well, you are a 26-year-old child,” Chase jokes, quickly reassembling the handgun. “C’mon, child, we’ve got work to do.” Chase’s phone rings, causing her to jump slightly. She frowns down at her phone. “It’s Bobby. I wonder what he could be calling about. Maybe a hunt?”

“Well pick up. It’s bound to be important.”

“I guess so,” Chase mumbles, putting the phone on speaker. “What’s up, Bobby?”

The other end of the line is silent for a moment. “Nothing much. Just wondering where you are. I’ve heard reports of demons near Illinois if you aren’t busy.”

Chase shoots Harley a glance. “We’re actually on that case now. Did Rufus say something about it?”

“No. Sam did.”

“Sam? How is he?”

“Sam’s fine.” 

“If Sam told you, does that mean he’s here?” Chase asks, her hopes rising slightly.

“We both are. Look, I don’t know what your plans for the demons are, but how about we come see you first and all of us can work on it.”

Bobby seems hesitant with his words, which throws both of the girls off, but they push it out of their minds.

“Sounds great, Bobby. Seeing you both would do us some good. I’ll send our motel information to you. Come by anytime.”

“See you soon Bobby!” Harley shouts happy at the prospect of seeing another friendly face. Chase hangs up. 

“What do you reckon’s up with Bobby? He seemed off.”

“I know. I guess we’ll see what’s up when he gets here. I’m sure he’s just shaken by the ever-growing demon reports. Like, seriously, we’ve seen what, evidence of five in this town alone?” Chase says, counting on her fingers. “Not to mention those seven we wiped out last month. It’s getting crazy.”

***

An hour later, as Harley and Chase sit on their motel beds eating takeout, a knock sounds at the door. Chase gets up and answers it, greeted by Bobby and Sam.

Chase lunges at Sam, jumping up to hug him, Harley scrambling off her own bed behind them.

Her eyes screwed up tightly, she squeezes her younger brother, only pulling away when he struggles to speak.

“Ch-Chase, it’s good to see you too.”

Chase leans back, letting Harley jump to hug him next. She gives Bobby a short hug, allowing them both inside. 

Harley goes back to her bed, and Chase begins to scramble for her folder, where she keeps all the information secured about every hunt they go on.

“So get this-” Chase starts.

“What, no hug for me?” A voice interrupts. Both Chase and Harley freeze in their respective places. 

Turning to meet his gaze, Chase locks eyes with Dean, her older brother. 

Harley runs up to hug and kisses him while Chase just stares in shock. Dean kisses Harley back, under the assumption that it’s just her touchy-feely nature. “God, I missed you! How are you? Are you okay? How’d you get here?”

“That’s a great question, Harley!” Chase snaps. She reels onto Sam and Bobby. “How long has he been alive? How long have you _known_?”

“Relax, Chase, we just found out,” Sam says, trying to calm her down.

Chase frowns, her lips pursing into a familiar pout. “Why am I always the last to know these things?” She groans. “Wait, but how are you here? You _died_ , Dean. We _buried_ you!”

Bobby looks at us in confusion. “Neither of you two idjits did anything?”

“I didn’t. Harley? You messing with demons without telling me again?”

“I’m not even sure if I have a soul to bargain with. I’m a monster, remember?” 

Chase shrugs. “Doesn’t make you any less wanted by the demons. You’ve been associated with the Winchesters for far too long now. You could ditch us and they’d still want your head. Besides, just because your soul isn’t _exactly_ human, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.” 

“Fair enough, but cut ties with you guys? In your dreams. You’re stuck dealing with me until we all end up dead in a ditch. Either way it wasn’t me.” 

“Okay, so that raises a sticky question,” Bobby says. 

“If none of you pulled me out, what did?” Dean asks.

“High ranked demon?” Harley guesses. “I don’t know what else it could be?”

“No demon’s letting him loose out of the goodness of their hearts. They’ve gotta have something nasty planned,” Bobby points out.

“Well, I feel fine,” Dean interjects.

“Okay, look, we don’t know what they’re planning. We got a pile of questions and no shovel. We need help,” Sam says. 

“What about Pamela?” Chase asks.

“Who?”

“A psychic I know,” Bobby says. 

“Hell yeah, it’s worth a shot,” Dean says.

“I’ll be right back,” Bobby announces before leaving the motel room to talk to Pamela.

Dean stands up as if to leave. 

“Wait, Dean,” Sam says. Dean turns to him in question. “You probably want this back.”

Sam hands Dean’s amulet to him. Dean takes it gently, touched. He puts it on hurriedly. “Thanks.”

“Hey, Dean,” Chase says. “What was it like?”

“What, Hell?” Dean asks. “I don’t know. I must’ve blacked it out or something because I don’t remember a damn thing.”

Chase looks at him skeptically, glancing to Harley to see if she believes him or not. She doesn’t.

***

Chase gets into the driver’s seat of her ‘66 Lincoln, waving a goodbye to her brothers, who gather their things into Baby, Dean’s car. Harley climbs into the passenger seat, already hooking the music up so they can have background noise.

Pulling out onto the freeway, Chase hesitates before asking a question.  
“So. That kiss was, uh. Unexpected.”

“I was just happy to see him I guess. I mean he died, and it’s just a little fun between friends you know? Why? You afraid I’m crushing on your big bro?”

Chase shoots her an unconvinced look. “Harley, it isn’t me being afraid you are. It’s me knowing you have been for years, and just surprised you finally did something about it. Though, if you continue to let Dean believe it was a heat of the moment thing, his head is going to grow in size. Soon, he won’t fit in Baby.” 

“Me and Dean? He’s not even my type. Too manly.”

Chase barks out a laugh. “Yeah, right, too manly. That’s rich. Sorry if you don’t see it yet, but it’s obviously going to grow into something more in the future.” Chase takes a particularly sharp turn, and she winces as she hears something shift in the back. “How long is the drive to Pamela’s anyway? I’m already hungry and bored.”

“Few more hours. Although I could go for some cherry pie.”

“Right,” Chase says, thinking of the blaring fact that pie is Dean’s go to. In Harley’s defense, it is also Chase’s so it’s not saying much. “I want chinese.” Chase pauses. “I also want to know how the Hell Dean is back. Not that I’m complaining, but something just seems off about him and I can’t tell what.”

“I mean he did just get back from Hell. Something’s bound to be off. I’d be off if I just got back from Hell. You’d be off.”

“I’d still be there because I’d wind up queen,” Chase says jokingly. “But you’re right. I’ll give it a rest for now, but if he seems off for too long, I will pester him.”

“We can pester him together,” Harley says smiling like an idiot at the thought of annoying someone.

“That’s a given.” 

“Okay, but seriously I’ll bet you a 100 bucks that Dean and I won’t end up together.”

Chase’s eyebrows shoot up in amusement. “Two things. One, I’ll take that bet. Two, I can not believe you brought him back up in the context of being with you and yet you deny having feelings. Like, how blind are you, Harley?”

“I just thought I’d get an easy 100 bucks?”

“Mmmhmmm. Sure, that’s believable.”

“It’s very believable. Dean is my best guy friend, nothing else.”

Chase hums. “I’ll let it go for now, but the moment it happens, I expect 100 dollars in my hand. You don’t have to say anything. Just hand it to me. I’ll remember.”

“You won’t need to remember. It’s never happening,” Harley whines.

Chase shrugs. “If you insist. Let’s just get to Pamela’s and see what happens. I’d like to know the son of a bitch that pulled my brother out of Hell. To be honest, I don’t know if I should buy him a round or put a round in his face. Guess we’ll see.” 

“I guess…To Pamela’s!” Harley shouts in the same tone as someone would shout ‘For Narnia!’

***

The door opens to show a pretty woman in her thirties smiling at them. Chase raises an eyebrow. She knew of Pamela, but had assumed her to be older. 

“Bobby!” She exclaims, pulling the older man into a hug. Her gaze sweeps over each of them, lingering on both Sam and Dean. 

“So, these the boys?”

Chase rolls her eyes, used to being ignored. 

“And the girls,” Harley pipes up. Chase elbows her, mentally groaning at her friend’s penchant to drawing attention to them. 

Pamela looks to them in amusement. “Yes. The girls. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Aw, talk about us much Bobby?” Chase teases lightly.

“Oh, no, honey. There are others that talk about you.”

Chase shares a look with Harley. 

“So,” Pamela says, turning back to Dean. “Dean Winchester. Out of the fire and back in the frying pan? That makes you a rare individual.”

“If you say so,” Dean says, eyeing Pamela.

“Come on in,” Pamela ushers the bunch inside.

“So, you hear anything?” Bobby asks.

“Well, I Ouija’d my way through a dozen spirits. No one seems to know who broke your boy out, or why,” Pamela responses.

“So what’s next?”

“A séance, I think. See if we can see who did the deed.”

“A what now? Look, if you’re psychic, can’t you just know?”

Pamela gives Chase a patient, but stern look. “It doesn’t always work like that. This is a very tricky situation.”

“I still have a bad feeling about this. I mean, come on. Doesn’t anyone else feel like we shouldn’t do this?”

“I think we shouldn’t. Summoning it here-”

“We aren’t summoning it here. Just getting a peek at it.”

Bobby nods. “In that case, I think it’s our best shot.”

Chase looks to Harley for help. 

“I’m backing my bestie on this one,” Harley says smiling at her gal pal.

“You can sit out if you’d like,” Pamela says. Chase bristles at the way it’s said. 

“If you guys are going to be stupid, I can’t stop you. But I’m not going to just sit out. So, what the Hell do we have to do?” Chase asks. 

Pamela smirks at Chase’s prideful attitude before explaining. When they reached the séance room Pamela spreads a black tablecloth covered in white symbols on the table. Chase and Harley look at it warily. Pamela went to a cabinet squatting down to retrieve several pillar candles. Her squatting revealed a ‘Jesse Forever’ tattoo on her lower back. 

“Who’s Jesse?” Dean asks.

Pamela laughs, “Well it didn’t last forever.”

“His loss.”

Pamela stops in front of Dean on her way to the table with a smirk, “Might be your gain.”

Chase shudders, rolling her eyes.

Dean leans over to Sam. “I am so in.”

“Yeah, she’s gonna eat you alive.”

“Hey, I just broke out of jail. I say bring it.”

Pamela, passing by again, winks at Sam. “You’re invited too, grumpy.”

Chase looks to Harley, and fakes an overexaggerated gagging motion. Harley tries to hide her laughter at the boys and her wonderful friend’s antics.

“You are not invited,” Dean told Sam.

They all sat around the small, circular table for the séance.

“Right. Take each other’s hands.” Pamela says and everyone does so, “And I need to touch something our mystery monster touched.” She reaches for Dean’s inner thigh.

He jumps, “Whoa. Well, he didn’t touch me there.”

Another eye roll from Chase. She leans over to Harley, whispering quietly, “Is there a possibility to get brain damage from rolling your eyes too hard? Because this situation is giving me that brain damage.”

“Probably,” Harley whispers back.

Chase and Harley look back over in time to see Dean shrugging off his flannel. He pulls his short sleeve up to show his shoulder, and Chase stares in shock. A handprint looks branded onto Dean’s skin, the area healed over, but still bright red and angry looking. 

“Oh, Dean. Does it hurt?” Harley asks worriedly.

“No. It looks way worse than it is. Promise,” Dean replies. 

Pamela lays her hand over the brand and begins the séance, “I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle.” The TV turns to static, “I invoke, conjure, and command…Castiel? No. Sorry, Castiel, I don’t scare easy.” 

Chase’s eyes widen. She’d heard a voice speak. It was low, gravelly, and commanding, sending shivers up Chase’s spine. Pamela had actually done it!

“Castiel?” Dean questioned.

“Its name. It’s whispering to me, warning me to turn back.” The table begins to shake, “I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face.”

Chase looks around frantically, her eyes widening as the table begins to shake harder, the white noise becoming almost deafeningly loud. 

“Maybe we should stop,” Bobby suggests. Chase and Harley nod in agreement. 

“I almost got it. I command you, show me your face! Show me your face now!” Pamela shouts. 

Suddenly, flames leap up from the candles. Someone screams but it isn’t until the flames die down that either Chase or Harley can tell who it is. They look to see Pamela sobbing on the ground, having fallen out of her seat. 

Her face has streaks of blood running down it like tears. Chase rushes over, leaning over her alongside Harley, who had reacted first. 

Harley looks to Chase in horror just as Pamela opens her eyes, revealing empty, black sockets where her eyes had been. 

“I can’t see!” Pamela says, her voice shrill with panic. “Oh, God, I can’t see!”

Sam hurries out of the room to call an ambulance. 

***

The Winchesters and Harley were sitting at a table of Johnny Mac’s Diner. Three out of four had ordered pie. Harley almost always got cherry. She claimed it helped with her cravings. It didn’t she just wanted an excuse to eat copious amounts of pie.

“Pam’s stable. And out of I.C.U.” Sam says.

“And blind, because of us.” Dean adds.

“No one could have known. We’ve never seen anything like it.” Harley says trying to soften the blow of reality.

“We still have no clue who we’re dealing with,” Sam mentions

“We have a name. That’s a start,” Harley interjects.

“With the right mumbo-jumbo stuff, we could summon him here,” Chase says. 

“Bring him right to us,” Dean nods in agreement.

“I’m down,” Harley adds.

Sam looks at the three as though they’d each grown extra heads.

“Y’all’re crazy. Absolutely not.”

“We’ll work him over. I mean, after what he did?” Dean says. 

“Pam took a peek at him and her eyes burned out of her skull, and y’all want to have a face to face?” Sam asks.

“Have you met me? I’m a very curious idiot,” Harley says.

“And I’m just an idiot,” Chase adds on.

“You are brilliant, Chase,” Harley counters.

“I suppose,” she laughs. 

“This still isn’t a good idea,” Sam interrupts. 

“What, you got a better one?” Dean snaps.

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

“What is it?”

“I followed some demons to town, right?” Sam says.

“Okay?”

“So, we go find them. Someone’s gotta know something about something.”

The group’s waitress appears with their pie setting the plates on the table.

“Thanks,” Sam responds. 

The waitress pulls up a chair and joins the table. Harley looks at her weird.

“You angling for a tip?” Dean asks.

The waitress’ eyes go black. So do the cook’s and the eyes of the only other customer in the joint. The customer walks to the door and locks it. The waitress looks behind her as the door is locked and when she turns back to us her eyes are normal.

“Dean. To hell and back. Aren’t you a lucky duck,” the waitress comments.

“That’s me.”

“So you get to just stroll out of the pit, huh? Tell me. What makes you so special?”

“I like to think it’s because of my perky nipples.” The girls stifle laughter. “I don’t know. Wasn’t my doing, I don’t know who pulled me out.”

“Right. You don’t.”

“No. I don’t.”

“Lying’s a sin, you know.”

“I’m not lying. But I’d like to find out, so if you wouldn’t mind enlightening me,” Dean pauses to look at the waitresses name tag. “Flo.”

“Mind your tone with me, boy. I’ll drag you back to hell myself.”

Sam shifts in his seat, but Dean puts his hand up and Sam settles back down.

“No, you won’t,” Dean says to the waitress.

“No?”

“No. Because if you were you would have done it already. Fact is, you don’t know who cut me loose. And you’re just as spooked as we are. And you’re looking for answers. Well, maybe it was some turbo-charged spirit. Or, uh, Godzilla. Or some big bad boss demon. I’m guessing at your pay grade that they don’t tell you squat. Because whoever it was, they want me out. And they’re a lot stronger than you. So go ahead. Send me back. But don’t come crawling to me when they show up on your front doorstep with some Vaseline and a fire hose.”

“What would you even do with Vaseline and a fire hose? Actually know what, I don’t want to know,” Harley says.

“Dean has some interesting ways of torturing individuals. All you need to know is that it’d work,” Chase says. 

“I’m going to reach down your throat and rip out your lungs,” The demon says.

“Sounds festive,” Chase jokingly tells Harley. 

Dean leans close to the demon. Suddenly, he throws a punch at it, and it takes the hit. Throwing another, Dean laughs. “That’s what I thought,” he says, standing. He pulls out his wallet and mockingly puts ten dollars on the table. “For the pie.”

“Wait, does this mean I can’t eat my pie?” Chase asks, looking scandalized. “Yeah, no. This is coming with me,” she continues, grabbing the pie and hurriedly grabbing a box from the counter. “Thanks, have a horrible day, hope to never see you again!” She says, rushing out, following after everyone else, who had stopped at the door to watch her, amused.

The four hunters stalked back to their cars. 

“You know that you could’ve eaten your pie while Dean and the demon talked right?”

“But the drama,” Chase says dramatically. “It was too distracting.”

“More distracting than uneaten pie right in front of your face?” Harley said getting into the passenger side of the Lincoln.

Chase pauses. “I don’t know why, but yes. Besides, there was a demon sitting right next to me. How could I know that the pie was safe? It’s probably a good thing I wasn’t eating anway,” Chase says, starting up the car. “I probably would’ve started laughing at the wrong moment and choked.”

“Fair enough, but still pie. Anyway let’s head back to the motel and figure out how to summon this fucker.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Chase says, pulling out of the parking spot haphazardly. 

***

Our heroes head to the motel and start going through lore after putting some music on. 

Hours later, Chase and Harley are pulled from their rooms, when Bobby and Dean tell them that they are going to summon whatever the Hell ‘Castiel’ is, and they are going without Sam. 

Night had long since fallen, and Chase drove with Harley to an old abandoned barn, following closely behind Bobby. So the four hunters set up the ritual, Bobby directing them, until he says the ritual is complete.

Ten minutes pass by. 

Ten more.

Chase and Harley sit messing around with old junk they find littered about, while Dean sits on a table, sighing as he swings his legs back and forth.

Ten more minutes pass.

“You sure you got the ritual right?” Dean asks finally. He raises his hands in defense quickly, after Bobby shoots him a look, equally as irritated. “Touchy, touchy. Sorry.”

Just then, the entire barn begins to shake, metal screeching loudly in everyone’s ears. Chase grabs her gun out of her waistband with one hand, the other ready to pull a knife. Harley pulls out a demon killing knife, one she had gotten from a high up demon, while the boys had Ruby’s. The doors burst open and a man in a trenchcoat walks in. Bobby, Dean, and Chase open fire. It doesn’t even slow him down. Harley throws the demon killing knife into his chest. He just pulls it out and drops it on the floor.

“Who are you?” Dean asks.

“I’m the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition.”

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Dean says sarcastically, plunging Ruby’s knife into his chest. 

The man looks down, tilting his head slightly. He pulls the knife out, completely unaffected. Bobby lunges at him, but the man quickly grabs his weapon, twisting him around, only to place three fingers on Bobby’s forehead. 

Bobby collapses to the ground. Chase is by his side, checking for a pulse in a second. 

“We need to talk, Dean.” The man pointedly looks at Harley, then Chase, bored. “Alone.”

“Look buddy, I don’t trust ya and I’m not leaving my best guy friend alone with you,” Harley says crossing her arms. 

“Harley, I’ll be fine.”

“No. I just got you back. I’m not leaving,” Harley says sternly.

“Sweetheart, I promise I’ll walk out of here alive.”

“Fine. I guess. Don’t take too long or I’m busting back into the barn,” she said before leaving to go outside.

Chase looks conflicted, but upon receiving a harsh nod from her brother, she follows Harley out. Immediately, she finds the window (which had been blown out when the strange man entered) and spies on them. 

“This is so annoying,” Chase complains. “I can’t hear anything they’re saying.”

“At least we can see them. Make sure nothing happens.”

“True.” Suddenly, the man’s image distorts. Chase catches a quick glimpse of black wing-like shadows appearing behind the man, as lightning crashes into the roof of the barn. Chase yelps slightly, jumping back. She rushes back to the window for everything to look the same as before. “Harley, did you see that?”

“Yeah, what the actual fuck just happened? He had wings right? I haven’t just gone crazier?”

“Can you get crazier?” Chase says. “He definitely had wings though.”

“I mean I can start seeing things. Pretty sure that would make me crazier. Reckon we can go in yet?”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Besides. If he wants Dean, he should know that Dean won’t cooperate if anything happens to either of us.”

Harley nodded and the girls entered the barn. 

“I thought you were waiting outside.” Dean said being the first to see them.

“Got bored,” Harley responded matter of factly.

“Yeah, you can’t expect us to always listen to what you say,” Chase says, trying to brush it off. “Moving on, though. Who exactly are you?”

The man regards Chase with a strangely blank, yet confused, look. He seems to look at everything like that. Like he’s never been on Earth before. 

“I am Castiel. I am an angel of the Lord,” he says flatly. Chase stares, glances at Dean, mouthing, ‘Is he for real?’, before turning back to Castiel. 

“I mean demons are real, he has wings, why not? It’s not the craziest thing. If this means God is real, I wanna slap him,” Harley adds on. 

“Why would you want to slap my Father?” Castiel asks, confused.

“Because thanks to him I have to endure a shit load of pain and misery every month.”

Castiel only looks further confused. “You all endure pain constantly. But that is not my Father’s fault.”

“Kinda is,” Chase says. “But moving on! What do you want from my brother?”

Castiel glances at Dean. “We have work for him.” He turns to Dean fully. “I will be speaking with you again. Your friend should wake up shortly.”

With that, he’s gone before the three hunters could process him leaving.

Chase, Harley, and Dean all stare silently at each other, only coming to when they hear Bobby wake up.


	2. Are You There God? It's Me, Dean Winchester

Harley and Chase sit at the table, a pile of books between them. They’re listening to Dean argue with Sam about Castiel as they research angels. 

“What else could it be, Dean?” Sam asks.

“Look, all I know is that I was not groped by an angel.”

“Okay, look, Dean. Why would Castiel lie to you about it?”

“Maybe he’s a demon,” Dean says. “Demons lie.”

Chase rolls her eyes. Even Bobby looks up from his book.

“Yeah, a demon who’s immune to salt rounds, devil’s traps. And let’s not forget Ruby’s knife,” Harley says sarcastically. 

“Not helping,” Dean says gruffly.

“Harley’s right,” Chase says. “Even Lilith is scared of that knife.”

“Don’t you think that if angels were real, that some hunter somewhere would have seen one? At some point? Ever?” Dean counters. 

“Yeah, Dean. A hunter has. The three of us just did,” Chase says.

“Maybe they were laying low in heaven? It’s crazy I know, but so is everything else in our lives,” Harley adds.

“I’m just trying to think of a theory,” Dean says, trying to defend himself.

“We have a theory,” Sam says. 

“Yeah, well, one with a little less fairy dust on it, please.”

“Okay, look, I’m not saying we know for certain. I’m just saying that I think we-”

“Okay, okay, but that’s the point. We don’t know for sure, so I’m not gonna believe that it’s a freaking Angel of the Lord just because it says so!”

“You four chuckleheads want to keep arguing religion, or do you want to come take a look at this?” Bobby asks, pointing at a lore book.

They all look at Bobby. 

“I’ve got stacks of lore - some biblical, some pre-biblical. Damn, some of it is in cuneiform. It all says that angels can snatch a soul from the pit.”

“All the books I’ve read say that too,” Chase adds, setting her current book down. 

“What else?” Dean asks.

“What else, what?” Bobby replies.

“What else could do it?”

“Airlift your ass out of the hot box? As far as I can tell, nothing.”

“Well, they often performed miracles. Like healing and such. Also, they are portrayed as terrifying soldiers that wield weapons of fire. Cool, right?” Chase says

“Dean, this is good news.” Sam says, ignoring Chase.

“How?”

“Because for once, this isn't just another round of demon crap. I mean, maybe you were saved by one of the good guys, you know?”

“Okay. Say it's true. Say there are angels. Then what? There's a God?”

“At this point, Vegas money's on yeah,” Bobby says.

“I don't know, guys,” Dean says, reluctant to admit any of it true.

“Okay, look. I know you're not all choirboy about this stuff, but this is becoming less and less about faith and more and more about proof,” Sam says, trying to convince him.

“Proof?”

“Yes Dean, it’s this thing where you have evidence of something and it’s staring you right in the face,” Harley adds sarcastically.

“But why me? If there is a God out there, why would he give a crap about me?” 

“Because you're amazing and fantastic.” 

“I mean, I've saved some people, okay? I figured that made up for the stealing and the ditching chicks. But why do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular guy.”

“Apparently, you're a regular guy that's important to the man upstairs,” Sam says.

“Well, that creeps me out. I mean, I don't like getting singled out at birthday parties, much less by... God.”

“Okay, well, too bad, Dean, because I think he wants you to strap on your party hat,” Sam jokes.

Chase laughs slightly at the joke, remembering the year Dean got birthday hats for Sam and her, as well as himself for her thirteenth birthday. 

“Fine,” Dean concedes. “What do we know about angels?”

Bobby hands him a book. “Start reading.”

“You're gonna get me some pie,” Dean says, turning to Sam.

“Ooo! Me too!” Harley pipes up.

“You know I always am up for pie!” Chase adds. 

Sam rolls his eyes, but can’t fight the smile on his face.

***

Sam pulls up to Bobby’s house. He forgot the pie. Bobby walks to the car window and tells Sam to keep the car running because Olivia Lowry hasn’t been answering her phone.

“Olivia Lowry.. a hunter, right?” Sam asks. 

“Yeah. We're gonna go check on her. You guys follow me.” Bobby replies, before heading to his own car. 

Harley and Dean walk over to the Impala. Dean to get in and Harley to retrieve her pie.

“Dude, where’s the pie?” Harley says after peering into the car. 

“I forgot it. Sorry,” 

“Dammit, Sammy.” Dean says, realizing that there’s no pie. 

Harley walks away towards the Lincoln. “Sam forgot the pie,” she sighs, getting into the passenger side.

Chase scoffs, starting the Lincoln. “‘When do I ever forget the pie?’ he says. Well, now, apparently. Just as I was getting hungry too.” 

“So that angel, bit weird. I mean who says ‘perdition’?” Harley says starting the flow of conversation to take them to the next state over.

“We meet an actual, legitimate, awesome looking angel, and you decide to focus on his vocabulary before anything else?” Chase asks. She laughs, trying to keep her eyes on the road. “You are so lucky I love you, because you have some weird ass priorities.”

“Aww, love you too. But seriously it was weird and I stand by that. No one uses ‘perdition’ anymore. If they ever did, and he wasn’t really that awesome looking. He just kinda looked normal. Bit tax accountant-ish.”

Chase turns a bright red. She constantly does this. “I didn’t mean like, you know, good looking. I just meant like awesome. Like, I dunno, cool I guess. You know, the wing thing was pretty wicked. Plus his eyes are really blue. Kinda eerie looking. Though you are kinda right about the accountant thing. The trenchcoat was a bit much,” Chase laughs.

“So how blue are his eyes exactly?” Harley teases.

“Well, you know, just. Blue? A very crystal-y blue.”

“Aquamarine?”

“Well, no. More sky-blue. Like powder blue but crystalized.”

“You think he’s  _ cute _ . No one pays that much attention to someone’s eyes unless they fancy them.”

“That’s so not true! What color are Dean’s eyes?” Chase demands.

“Green, I think? Dunno?”

“Uh huh, you ‘think’,” Chase scoffs.

“I’d have to look at them again. I think Sam’s are green too though.”

“Okay,” Chase starts, sparing a glance at Harley. “Now I can’t tell if you’re just trying to make me believe that you don’t know my brother’s eye color, or if you genuinely don’t pay attention.”

“I just genuinely don’t pay attention because I don’t fancy either of them.”

“Well, just because I’m a little less oblivious than you, though not by much, doesn’t mean I fancy some guy who may or may not be trying to screw us over. If any of the Winchester’s are going to do that, it’s gonna be Sam.”

“Okay fair point, but you don’t have to trust someone to think they’re cute.”

“Fair,” Chase relents. “But I wouldn’t say cute. His eyes are just cool. But I also have a weird fascination with eyes, which you already know about so I  _ don’t  _ know why you’re teasing me. Is this just to get back at me for the Dean thing?”

“Maybe? Who knows?”

Chase rolls her eyes. “I think I know.”

“Excuse you? I am an enigma.”

Chase laughs, shrugging off her best friend’s odd ways. “That is one of the truest statements.”

“I mean I only ever speak the truth, except for when I lie of course. Then I’m lying.”

***

Bobby enters Olivia’s house first closely followed by the rest of the younger hunters.

“Olivia?” Bobby calls. 

Dean motions for Chase and Harley to go one way, while they search another part of the house. Chase nods and follows Harley, who is sporting her usual gun, while covering her by sweeping her gun across the room, looking for any movement. 

While looking for movement, however, Chase misses that Harley had stopped. She bumps into her.

“What is it?” Chase asks, following Harley’s gaze. A woman’s body lays on the ground, covered in blood, quite literally torn into. Grimacing, she turns back to the hall. “Guys! We found her!” 

The three other hunters come into the room. Sam’s the first to point out the line of salt at the doorway. They all started looking around the room. Dean walked over to Olivia’s weapon store and picked up an out of place EMF meter, “Olivia was rocking the EMF meter.”

“So a brutal ghost.” Harley comments on the state of the body.

“Yeah. I never seen a ghost do this to a person.” Dean says.

Bobby had left unnoticed while the younger hunters were talking and had just come back in the room with a worried expression on his face.

“Bobby, you all right?” Dean asks.

“I called some hunters nearby,” Bobby hesitated towards the end.

“Great,” Chase says. “We’ll probably need help with this one.”

“Except they ain't answering their phones either.”

“Well that’s fantastic.” Harley says, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

“Something's up, huh?” Sam asks.

“No shit, Sherlock.”

***

They made a stop at an empty gas station. Harley went in to retrieve a couple of pies. 

“You replaced me,” Harley turned around to see her dead best friend Adina. She was the reason Harley started hunting. A werewolf got her. She had to put a silver bullet she got on Amazon in it. “You let me die, and then you replaced me!”

“I could never replace you.”

“You already did.”

“Adina love. You were like a daughter to me. You still are.”

“You watched as that thing ripped me apart!”

“I couldn’t get to you in time. I tried. I really really tried,” A single tear ran down Harley’s cheek. “I killed it. It’s my fault it was even there. It was because of what I am. It could smell it on me. I’m so so sorry. I love you so much.”

“Now you get to know what it feels like to have your heart ripped out,” Adina stalked closer to Harley who was backing up towards the door. She tumbled out the door of the gas station and fell to the ground.

***

Chase sits in the Lincoln, her music quietly playing in the background as she scans a book about ghost activity. She fidgets with her iron pocket knife, a nervous tic she has. 

“Miss me?” A male voice asks. Chase whirls to look at whoever the Hell managed to get into her car undetected. Her ex-best friend stares back at her, unconcerned about the knife pointed at him. “I knew you would. I told you the last time we talked. You were going to miss me.”

Chase stares in horror, eyes wide as she takes in his appearance. He looked the same as he did in college, right before the accident. His blonde hair sticks up wildly, and his smile is painted on his face the way it always was; like he knew something you didn’t.

As if snapping out of paralysis, her body responds of its own accord while her mind stays as blank as before. She quickly jabs the knife through his body, already exiting the car as his body is reappearing outside of it. She runs in the direction of the gas station, hoping to find Harley alright, before she skids to a stop, avoiding running into him.

“Nathaniel, please, stop,” Chase says, her voice shaking. His image starts to flicker, flashing from normal to when he’d died. 

“Why should I?” He asks harshly, water dripping down his body in quick streams. His normally blue eyes are white, his skin holding a sickly blue-green tint. “You used me for information and then abandoned me to die, as soon as I wasn’t convenient.”

“Nathaniel, I tried to save you! I tried so hard! I did everything I could.” Chase backs up slowly, fearing the anger radiating off of his ghostly apparition. Pulling out a pistol from behind her, where she’d kept it tucked in her jeans upon discovering the high EMF levels, she takes a breath, looking at him. 

She aims it at him, only for him to disappear when she shoots. Cursing, she keeps the pocket knife at eye level, the gun straight out in front of her as she sweeps the area.

“I never forgave you, you know.”

Chase freezes, feeling the cold chill from behind her. 

“I know I said, as I was about to be dragged into the water, that I forgave you. That I believed you. That you actually loved me. But I didn’t. I died, blaming you.”

Tears start to burn in Chase’s eyes. “I did care about you. I did love you. I never used you,” she says rapidly, trying to justify herself. “I know it was my fault you died. If I’d discovered that stupid bitch earlier. If I’d done what I promised, you’d still be here.”

“But you didn’t! You didn’t find her fast enough because you just didn’t actually care!” Nathaniel shouts, his voice echoing in Chase’s ears. 

Chase spins on her heel and fires, shooting Nathaniel in the chest. He disappears and doesn’t reappear. 

Taking a few steady breaths, Chase rushes to the gas station just in time for Harley to fall through the door, the glass shattering around her. 

Looking up and seeing a girl with brown and neon green hair standing above her.

“Adina, come on it’s me, Harley!” she shouts, crying. “I love you!”

Chase shoots and Adina disappears. Harley slowly got up wiping away her tears. “Thanks, Chase. I just couldn’t bring myself to hurt her. Even if she is dead.”

“No, I-” Chase takes a deep breath and then speaks again. “I get it. You missed, uh, Nathaniel was here.” Chase had told Harley a while back about her ex-best friend who’d died from drowning. A witch had been going after the swim team of the college to get back at the coach. 

Chase shakes her head, holding out her hand to help Harley to her feet. “C’mon. Let’s get back to the others.”

“Hopefully they’re having a better time,” Harley smiles, not a genuine smile more so for show. Unfortunately they weren't, not that the two girls knew.

***

Chase and Harley sit in the kitchen, flipping through lore and eating pie. The boys had gone down the hall to discuss their events with different ghosts. Bobby comes through the kitchen, the boys hot on his tail. He looks to the girls, points at them, then down the hall. 

“Follow me.”

Casting a confused glance towards each other, they get up and follow Bobby. 

“Okay, where are we going?” Sam asks, confused.

Chase nods, “Yeah, that’s a great question.”

“Some safe place, you idiots,” Bobby says. 

Bobby grabs a few books off a shelf, hands them to Harley, and then leads them down into a basement. 

“Is this…” Sam trails off, gazing at an iron door.

“Solid iron,” Bobby says. “Completely coated in salt. One hundred percent ghost proof.”

Chase whistles. 

“You built a panic room?” Sam asks in disbelief.

Bobby shrugs. “I had a weekend off.”

“Bobby,” Harley says, nodding, impressed. 

“What?”

“You’re awesome,” Dean says. 

***

Each hunter works on something individually from within the panic room. Sam and Dean are making salt bullets in iron casing, while Chase, Bobby, and Harley read up on the symbol the others had seen on the ghosts. Chase fiddles with her pocket knife, sharpening it slowly as she reads. Harley is tapping her fingers on the spine of her book.

“See, this is why I can’t get behind God.”

The others turn to look at Dean, who hasn’t averted his gaze from his work.

“What are you talking about?” Sam asks.

“If he doesn't exist, fine. Bad crap happens to good people. That's how it is. There's no rhyme or reason -- just random, horrible, evil -- I get it, okay. I can roll with that. But if he is out there, what's wrong with him? Where the hell is he while all these decent people are getting torn to shreds? How does he live with himself? You know, why doesn't he help?”

“Just because he’s God, doesn’t mean he has to care. If you were God, how long would it take before you got desensitised to it all?” Chase says.

“I ain’t touching this one with a ten-foot pole,” Bobby says. 

“Yeah,” Dean says bluntly.

“Found it,” Bobby says, getting up from the table.

“Found what,” Sam asks. 

Chase rolls her eyes. “I dunno, maybe the symbol we’ve been looking for for the past hour and a half?” she asks sarcastically. 

“The symbol you saw, it’s called the Mark of the Witness,” Bobby says.

“Witness? Witness to what?” Sam asks.

“The unnatural. None of them died what you'd call ordinary deaths. See, these ghosts -- they were forced to rise. They woke up in agony. They were like rabid dogs. It ain't their fault. Someone rose them... on purpose.”

“Who?”

“Do I look like I know? But whoever it was used a spell so powerful it left a mark, a brand on their souls. Whoever did this had big plans. It's called ‘the rising of the witnesses.’ It figures into an ancient prophecy.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Dean says. “What book is this prophecy from?”

“Well, the widely distributed version's just for tourists, you know. But long story short -- Revelations. This is a sign, guys.”

“Sign of what?” All four younger hunters chorus. 

“The apocalypse.”

“Apocalypse? The apocalypse, apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence, $5-a-gallon-gas apocalypse?” Dean asks.

“That’s the one,” Bobby says. “The rise of the witnesses is a mile-marker.”

“That’s insane,” Chase says.

“Of course the world is ending in our lifetime.” Harley groans.

“Okay, so, what do we do now?” Sam asks, confused.

“Road trip. Grand Canyon, Star Trek Experience. Bunny Ranch.” Dean jokes, going to sit down again.

“First things first. How about we survive our friends out there?” Bobby says.

“Great. Any ideas aside from staying in this room until Judgment Day?” Dean asks.

“It’s a spell,” Bobby points at a piece of paper, “to send the witnesses back to rest. Should work.”

“Should. Great.” Sam says, disappointed.

“It’s a shot. Better than nothing.” Harley adds.

“Yeah. Let’s just hope we can stand their taunting long enough to do it,” Chase mutters. 

“If I translate it correctly, I should have everything here at the house,” Bobby continues. 

“If. I don’t like that word,” Chase says. “But sure. Better this than being stuck here with you guys indefinitely.” 

“Oh, you’re still gonna be stuck with me indefinitely.” Harley jokes.

“Any chance you got everything we need here in this room?” Dean asks.

“When have we ever been that lucky?”

“Spell's got to be cast over an open fire.” Bobby mentions.

“The fireplace in the library.” Sam says.

“Can’t we just start a fire in here? The floor’s concrete,” Harley points out.

“True,” Chase says. “But, there isn’t anything here we can burn. All of these books are way too important to our jobs.”

“So the library,” Sam says.

“Bingo,” Bobby says. He starts to grab the salt bullets and hand them out to us. Chase, Sam, and Harley load their guns. 

“That just doesn’t sound as appealing as, say, a ghost-proof panic room,” Dean tries arguing once more. He is ignored.

“Cover each other,” Bobby says, about to open the door. “And aim careful. Don’t run out of ammo until I’m done, or they’ll shred you. Ready?”

“Right, don’t run out of ammo,” Chase says sarcastically. “Maybe they’ll even refrain from attacking us if we tell them we’re getting low.”

Bobby gives her a pointed look, opening the door. “Just be careful.”

They all slowly exit the bunker, weapons raised, carefully scanning the room as they proceed to the stairs. 

They pause, seeing a man in his early twenties sitting there. “Hey, Dean,” he says. “Remember me?”

Dean pauses before nodding. “Ronald, huh? With the laser eyes. I wish I could say it’s good to see you.”

“I’m dead because of you,” the ghost - Ronald - says, suddenly angry. “You were supposed to help me!”

A bang goes off, and everyone turns to see Bobby with his gun still aimed at where Ronald had been. “If you’re gonna shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.”

Everyone then makes their way to the living room with caution. Sam makes a salt circle while Dean starts the fire. Chase and Harley scan the room, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. 

“Upstairs,” Bobby says to Sam. “linen closet - red hex box. It’ll be heavy.”

“Got it.” Sam leaves as two girls reappear in the living room, focusing solely on Bobby.

“Bobby,” one of the girls starts. Chase shoots.

“Dean, in the kitchen. Cutlery drawer has a false bottom. Hemlock, opium, wormwood.”

“Opium?” Dean asks.

“Go!” Harley shouts at him. Dean rushes out.

The girls reappear. Bobby tries to ignore them as he draws with chalk on the desk. Harley and Chase don’t shoot just yet, taking caution with the number of bullets they each have. 

“You walked right by us when that monster ate us all up.”

“You could have saved us.”

Harley and Chase both shoot one of the girls. Bobby continues to focus on his task.

“You know what I hate most?” Chase asks, the girls reappearing, but farther away. “When there are two little girls. Why is it the creepiest when there are two?”

She shoots. 

The door to the kitchen closes suddenly, and the three of them snap to attention. 

“Dean?” Harley calls out.

“I’m fine!” They let out a breath at hearing Dean. “Keep working, guys!”

They boys rush back into the living room, reloading their guns once they put the stuff down. 

Ronald reappears. 

“Ronald, hey, come on. I thought we were pals,” Dean laughs.

“That’s when I was still alive. Now, I want to eat you alive.”

“Well, I’m not a cheeseburger.” He shoots, but Ronald is already gone.

A college-aged girl with black hair appears in front of Chase. “Faith.”

Faith stares at Chase in melancholy. “You left me there, C. I thought we were going to do it together. You were supposed to be there that day. Why didn’t you show up?”

Chase shoots, blinking away tears.

Bobby recites some Latin words and the windows blow open and a wind fills the room. The wind moves the salt so they are no longer protected by it. Meg appears and Sam quickly shoots at her, as Bobby continues to recite the spell. 

Ronald appears and they shoot at him. Sam and Dean continue to fire as the ghosts appear. Henriksen knocks Dean’s gun out of his hands when he is reloading, and approaches him. Dean grabs another gun, and shoots it, only to find it empty. He quickly picks up an iron rod and hits at Henriksen. Meg appears and pushes Sam against the wall, trapping him there with a desk. Sam tries to push the desk away without success.

Nathaniel appears behind Chase, reaching an arm into her chest. Chase gasps out in pain before the feeling suddenly disappears. Harley had shot him.

“Thanks,” Chase breathes out, shooting at Meg, who was still harassing Sam.

“No problem.”

Chase and Harley turn just in time to hear Bobby shout, “Dean!”

Dean catches the bowl of ingredients, which Bobby had dropped when Meg plunged a hand into Bobby’s neck. The two girls sit on his desk. Chase and Harley take one out each, but don’t shoot at Meg, in fear of hitting Bobby.

Dean throws the contents of the bowl into the fireplace. The fire turns a brilliant blue, before everything suddenly stops. The ghosts disappear, and the wind stops, allowing everything in the room to settle. 

They are all breathing hard and looking to one another. 

“Bobby?” Dean asks. 

Bobby nods, indicating he’s okay. 

Sam gets free of the desk that had been pinning him. 

They all take the moment to breathe.

***

It was the middle of the night. Harley sat at the kitchen table reading up on angels. She would normally be on the couch, but that was currently taken up by a sleeping Sam Winchester.

Chase sat on the counter, swinging her legs back and forth as she quietly ate a bowl of cereal. She looks up to make a comment to Harley about the ghosts earlier that day, but stops short and almost chokes on her food at the sight of the angel, Castiel. He stands facing the living room, very still, as though waiting for something. 

“What the hell?” Chase asks loudly. Castiel looks backwards only a mere second, his facial expression screaming indifference to her. Her eyes widen as she looks to see if she’d disturbed the boys’ sleep. Sam lay as still as ever, snoring quietly. Dean however, had heard her, and was now sitting up. His face hardens upon seeing Castiel.

“So, um...Castiel, right? Why are you here in the middle of the night? Some people actually need sleep,” Harley asks, increasingly confused.

Dean walks over, and Castiel, having ignored both of the girls, nods to him. “Good job with the witnesses.”

“You were hip to all this?”

Chase snorts slightly at Dean’s choice of words.

“I was, uh, made aware,” Castiel responds, his voice gravelly, as though it hadn’t been used in a long time.

“Well, thanks for the angelic assistance. You know, I almost got my heart ripped out.”

“Oh, me too,” Chase pipes up. “Interesting experience, really.”

“But you didn’t,” Castiel says, still not addressing Chase. Chase shoots Harley an irritated glare, gesturing to Castiel and mouthing, ‘What’s his problem?’ to her. 

“Look, Cas. Can I call you Cas? Actually don’t bother. I am. You can’t just be all ‘But you didn’t’ to my friends. They are amazing and wonderful and the second you realize that you’ll be poofing yourself over here in a second to save their asses as much as they need,” Harley scolds the angel.

“I don’t ‘poof’,” Castiel says.

“I thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wings, halos -- you know, Michael Landon. Not dicks.”

“Read the Bible. Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier.” 

“He’s right,” Harley pipes up.

“Yeah? Then, why didn't you fight?” Dean turns to Harley confused. “Wait… How would you know?” 

“I went to Catholic school.”

“You? You went to Catholic school? Miss Constantly-Avoids-Churches? That’s actually really hot. I bet you were a bad girl weren’t you?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Castiel sighs, “I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns,”

“Concerns? There were people getting torn to shreds down here! And, by the way, while all this is going on, where the hell is your boss, huh, if there is a God?” Dean practically shouts.

“Dean, you’re gonna wake up Sam,” Harley scolds. 

“There's a God.” Castiel says, utterly unfazed and a little annoyed.

“I'm not convinced. 'Cause if there's a God, what the hell is he waiting for, huh? Genocide? Monsters roaming the earth? The freaking apocalypse? At what point does he lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards that are stuck down here?” Dean says.

“The Lord works-”

“If you say mysterious ways, Imma kick your ass,” Harley threatens. Castiel puts his hands up in surrender.

“So, Bobby was right... about the witnesses. This is some kind of a... sign of the apocalypse?” Dean asks.

“That's why we're here. Big things afoot,” Castiel says.

“Do we want to know what kind of things?” Chase asks.

“I sincerely doubt it, but you need to know. The rising of the witnesses is one of the 66 seals.”

‘Oh, look. He can talk to me. Miraculous,’ Chase mouths to Harley.

“Okay. I'm guessing that's not a show at Seaworld,” Dean jokes.

“Those seals are being broken by Lilith.”

“Bitch,” Harley murmurs.

“She did the spell. She rose the witnesses,” Dean says, stating the obvious.

“Mm-hmm. And not just here. 20 other hunters are dead.”

“Of course. She picked victims that the hunters couldn't save so that they would barrel right after us,” Dean concluded.

“Lilith has a certain sense of humor.”

“Well, we put those spirits back to rest.”

“It doesn't matter. The seal was broken.”

“Why break the seal anyway?”

“You think of the seals as locks on a door.”

“Okay. Last one opens and…”

“Lucifer walks free.”

“Lovely. I reckon now he has a chance to wear Prada,” Harley jokes.

Chase laughs and Dean smiles. Castiel doesn't even acknowledge the joke.

“Lucifer? But I thought Lucifer was just a story they told at demon Sunday school. There's no such thing,” Dean says, unsure.

“Three days ago, you thought there was no such thing as me. Why do you think we're here walking among you now for the first time in 2,000 years?” Castiel asks.

“To stop Lucifer.”

“That's why we've arrived.”

“Well... bang-up job so far. Stellar work with the witnesses. That's nice.”

“We tried. And there are other battles, other seals. Some we'll win, some we'll lose. This one we lost. Our numbers are not unlimited. Six of my brothers died in the field this week. You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around? There's a bigger picture here. You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in,” Castiel threatens before disappearing.

“Well…… That happened,” Harley stated plainly.


	3. The Day of the Black Sun

Usually, when the girls woke up, they didn’t see a man standing at the edge of their beds, staring at them.  
Chase wakes up, and upon sitting up, is greeted by the sight of Castiel, the look on his face the constant confusion he seems to wear. Chase lets out a shriek, causing Harley to bolt up, ready to fight whatever might be there.  
Harley looks very surprised to see only Castiel there.   
“What the actual Hell are you doing?” Chase demands.   
“Heaven has a job for the two of you,” Castiel says simply.  
“And heaven can’t wait for us to already be awake?” Chase sighs. “How long have you been watching us, anyway?”  
Castiel blinks. “I’ve only been watching for an hour.”  
Harley looks at Castiel in disbelief. “Right. An hour. That makes it totally okay then.”  
“A seal is dangerously close to being broken. You need to stop it from happening.”  
“I thought you had your fellow angel soldiers protecting the seals,” Chase says, climbing out of the motel bed. Castiel watches her carefully, and she can’t tell if he looks more annoyed or tired.  
“You really think this is easy. More of my brothers have died in this past week battling for seals than in the past two thousand years.”  
“Didn’t you say you haven’t been on earth in two thousand years?” Harley asks. “That makes your statistics skewed.”  
Castiel gives her a harsh look.  
“Okay, so heaven has a job for us. Can we at least get dressed and eat or something?” Chase asks.  
“Of course.” Castiel stays staring at them.  
“Um, Cas?” Chase asks.  
“Yes?”  
“Can you, you know, come back after we’ve changed?” Chase asks, making a shoo-ing gesture. He narrows his eyes at her.   
“Bye bye, my angelic acquaintance.”  
“I will be back,” he says. Castiel then disappears, leaving the girls staring at the wall, blinking in confusion.   
“Doesn’t poof, my ass,” Chase snorts. She shakes her head and starts to change. By change, she simply shrugs on a flannel over her tank top, slipping her loose jeans on. Harley on the other hand has to wiggle into her skinny jeans and throw on a band tee. There wasn’t really a reason for Castiel to leave, other than Chase wanted to talk to Harley alone. “So, what do you think he wants us to do?”   
“Save the world. Risk our lives. Y’know the usual.”  
“How very typical.” Chase pours herself coffee. “Do you think he’ll let us get pie first? Even a muffin would suffice.”  
“He better. I don’t get my pie, I start ripping throats out.”  
“See, even though I know that’s a legitimate thing for you, I gotta say. I totally agree with that mentality.”  
“What’s the point of being a vampire if you can’t make light of it?” Harley shrugs.  
“No point that matters.”  
“I am back,” a deep voice says.   
The girls turn to see Castiel in the same place as before, as though he’d never left.  
“Man, you gotta loosen up,” Chase says. “Ever tried looking more, y’know, human?”  
“No.”  
“Cas, that really wasn’t that long. You’re lucky I mastered getting dressed in under a minute because I was always late to school. Poof like that and you’ll be labeled a perv.”  
“I do not understand. I do not have any intention of seeing you in a less than modest state.”  
“Again with the need to loosen up,” Chase says with an eye roll. “It’s a joke, Cas.”  
“Kinda. Seriously though, lengthen your poofing periods.”  
“You’ve been given time. Now, you have a job to do.”  
“What is this job?” Chase asks.  
“A seal is being broken. A ritual you have to stop, that causes a solar eclipse. You must find the demon performing this ritual, and stop it.”  
“Any other information you can give us?”  
“No.” Cas turns away slightly, concentrating on seemingly nothing. “Time is almost up. I will send you there now.”  
“Pie. We need pie. I don’t get pie, I start ripping throats out.”  
Cas looks vaguely startled, looking at Harley strangely. “You get physically violent when you do not have pie?”  
“She does,” Chase says, shrugging. “Can you blame her? Pie is life.”  
Cas’ eyes narrow, and he just takes an unnecessary breath, blinking slowly. “I do not understand.”  
“I’m a vampire, kinda, sorta. It’s complicated. But basically cherry pie is the only thing that can assuage my thirst for blood.”  
“I see,” Castiel responds, nodding slowly. “But, as for your job. I will send you there now.”  
Before either girl can protest, Castiel has closed the distance between himself and them, placing three fingers on each of their foreheads.  
***  
Chase and Harley suddenly find themselves standing on the sidewalk of an old looking town, each holding a piece of pie by the crust which promptly breaks and falls on the sidewalk.  
“Well,” Chase starts, looking down at her now empty hands. “At least he got us the pie.”  
“Too literal for his own good,” Harley sighs.  
“Okay, so first things first. We find a lead on wherever this demon might be. I say we start at the local diner that this town has got to have. What state are we even in? They better have apple pie, because I am not in the mood to mourn what is currently at my feet.”  
The girls begin walking around town, getting their bearings and looking for a diner. Finally, they spot one.   
“Brimstone Diner. What are we? In medieval times?” Chase jokes.   
“I think it sounds cool, but then again I am a sucker for a renaissance festival.”  
“Oh, yeah, that sounds like a must for us sometime. Dean would totally be down for it too. He’d probably get way too into it, but like, on the down low.”  
Harley nodded and the two friends went into the diner and ordered some pie. Apple for Chase and cherry for Harley.  
“So, what’re you girls in town for?” the older waitress asks them. “Oh, don’t be surprised, dear. We don’t get a lot of new folk, so it’s easy to spot ‘em.”  
“Oh, uh,” Chase starts. “A friend sent us here. Told us about some fantastic spots to work. We’re journalist photographers.”  
“Stupid question, but where are we?” Harley asks the waitress, who according to the nametag is called Agnus.  
Chase shoots Harley a look. So does the waitress, though it isn’t the same look.   
“Did your friend not tell you?” She asks, slightly concerned. “Why, you’re in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.”  
Chase laughs it off. “He did tell us, but Nova here probably wasn’t paying attention.”  
“I’m just really forgetful.”  
“Well, that’s quite understandable, dear. My memory ain’t what it used to be either.” The waitress laughs slightly, waving her hand. “Anyway, let me go grab you your pie and then I’ll be out of your hair.”  
“Thank you,” Chase says, trying to be polite.  
“Thanks, Agnus, lovely meeting you.” Harley says, waving goodbye.  
Agnus brings them their pies and goes off to talk to another customer.  
“So I guess we should head to the library after this? Find out what ritual can cause a solar eclipse.”  
“Good idea,” Chase says, taking a bite of pie. She looks down in surprise, suppressing a moan of delight. “Holy God, this is good pie.”  
Harley takes a bite of her pie, “Oh yeah, the best.”  
The girls eat their pies, suppressing many a moan.  
***  
Our awesome, badass heroines spend hours at the library combing through book after book. They had tried so many different sections, trying to find the information in lore, religious texts, and mythology. Hell, Chase had even tried looking in historical cases just in case - even though this seal has obviously never been attempted before. She was simply desperate.  
“Hey, I think I found something,” Harley says, looking up, “By the souls of these seven victims I bind the sun and moon to my will. The moon shall block the sun and the seal shall break.”  
“That’s foreboding,” Chase says.   
“It doesn’t specify what the seal is, but I think this is our gig. It calls for, get this, three virgins, two orphans, one fetus conceived out of wedlock, and the soul of a witness to the supernatural.”  
“Okay. Wow. That’s a lot of human sacrifice,” Chase says, absorbing the new information. “Also, an unborn kid? That’s just gross.”  
Chase walks over to Harley’s side of their table to read the specifications of the seal. “Harley, look at this part. Because it’s an entire eclipse, it has to be on a full moon, right? When’s the next full moon?”  
“Tonight,” Harley groans.  
Chase lets out a long sigh. “Of course it is. Thank you, Castiel. Your timing is, like always, impeccable.”  
“At least if we prevent it tonight it’s another month till they can try again?”  
“True, but does this mean it can be attempted monthly? Because I did not sign up for this. Castiel can kiss my foot if he thinks I have the time, energy, or patience to deal with this every single month just to stop the apocalypse.”   
“Maybe they’ll just give up on it if we stop them?” Harley says, hopefully and unsure.  
Chase shrugs. “I guess we’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.”  
“Damn demons. I swear Lillith is the bane of my existence.”  
“I mean she is, quite literally, the bane of everyone’s existence. Honestly, she should get a hobby. I’m going to suggest knitting the next time I see her.”  
“Knitting may be too hard though. She might go on a murder spree to vent out her knitting frustrations. What about crocheting.”  
“Yeah, but isn’t she currently going on a murder spree to vent out her like, daddy issues? Crocheting is easier, true.”  
“True, but a hobby is supposed to distract from that, not make it worse.”  
“True. Wait, how did we start talking about this again? Moving on, where do we start in stopping this demon from breaking this seal?”  
“First things first, I think we should look for potential victims.”  
“Okay cool. I would say we do what we normally do, but considering Cas sent us here with no supplies, I guess we’ll have to do it the hard way. By gossiping.” Chase fakes a shudder, but is smiling nonetheless.   
“God, I hate gossiping with strangers. Shall we start with the town’s gossip column?”  
“Sure.” Chase stands, overdramatically stretching. “Let’s get this bitch over with.”  
***  
Chase and Harley make a quick exit from the library and begin walking around town, on the lookout for anywhere they might find a newspaper, or signs for missing people.   
Finally, after wandering around for a while, Harley spots a newspaper stand. Quickly scanning through articles, there’s a prayer request filed under the town gossip section.   
It’s an anonymous request for a woman named Jessie Salinas, who has found out she is pregnant, and is also not married.   
Chase looks at the little article in disgust. “What a shitty thing to do to her. She’s obviously found out not too long ago, so you submit an anonymous ‘prayer’ request basically outing her situation to everyone? And it’s not even to ask for help! Just “keep her in mind”. People are so gross.”  
“The worst part is they were probably ‘friends’ if Jessie told them.”  
“Ouch, you’re right. I swear, if you were to do this to me, I’d probably hurt you.”  
“I would never!” Harley says in mock offence knowing her friend didn’t actually think she would do it.  
***  
“Oh, look,” Chase says. They walk over to a tac board, where a missing person sign was hanging. “Thank God. I mean, not thank God, or. You know what. Whatever.”  
The sign shows a picture of a boy around thirteen with blond hair. The name reads Jacob Stevens, and he was reported missing four days ago.   
“Well, I guess we have a couple leads?” Chase says questioningly.  
“Now we just need to find five more. Should we head to Jessie’s place? Make sure her baby’s still kicking.”  
“That’s probably our best bet. It’d be harder to figure out everything else first,” Chase agrees. “Where do you think we’ll find her?”   
“If we can get our hands on a computer finding her address shouldn’t be hard.”  
“True. Back to the library?”  
“Libraries, a hunter’s best friend.”  
Chase laughs and they turn around, heading back the way they’d come.  
***  
Chase groans, hitting her head against the desk. “No address with that name pops up when I search it and- Oh my God, I’m an idiot.” Chase frantically backspaces, then types it in again, but this time searches for Jessica Salinas, and then grins proudly at her friend. “Found her. She lives not too far from here. West side of town, near the church.”  
“Good, I’m not a fan of walking.”  
“Tell me about it. He could have at least sent us with Jack.”  
“When does our angel friend think things through?”  
“Fair point. So he’s a friend now? Versus an ‘angelic acquaintance’?”  
“He at least tried to give us pie.”  
Chase shrugs. “Fair enough. Now, onto finding Jessie.”  
“Off to find the Jessie, the wonderful Jessie of Oz.”  
***  
Chase and Harley stand on the porch of an older looking house, the paint peeling on the outside, but the garden of poppies looking very cared for. Chase reaches out a hand and knocks on the door.   
“I have my badge on me still. If you want to play cop.”

Chase reaches out and knocks once more, this time a little louder.  
“Sounds good. You can introduce us then. Remember, I gave you the fake name Nova earlier. Best be consistent.”  
“Coming!” A frantic female voice calls. Chase gives Harley a sideways glance, shrugging and taking a step back. A woman suddenly opens the door, her brown hair messily framing her face where it falls out of a haphazard bun.   
Her eyes are wide, but her smile wide and friendly. “Hi! Sorry, do I know you?” She asks, looking back and forth between the two girls.  
“Hi,” Harley says, flashing her badge, “I’m agent Nova, this is agent Barry. We’re just asking around about the disappearances. Are you Jessie Salinas?”  
Jessie, at most in her early twenties, looks confused for a moment. “Yeah, I am. Of course. Has there been another disappearance from the orphanage?”  
Chase glances at Harley. “We are looking into the ones that have taken place. As far as you are aware, how many have there been?”  
“Just the two I know of, oh, silly me. Would you like to come in?” Jessie opens the screen door, gesturing for Harley and Chase to enter the house.  
“We’d love to,” Chase says. “Thank you.”  
“Of course.”  
Jessie leads them into a small, but cozy, living room and gestures for them to sit on the couch. “So, you are searching for the two orphans right? Jacob and Nathan?”  
Chase shoots Harley a glance, a silent plea to say something, because she herself is unsure of how to proceed.  
“Those are the ones. Have you been smelling any odd smells? Maybe rotten eggs?”  
“Um, excuse me?” Jessie asks. “You mean around my house or around town in general? Because the old bar always smells like something went bad, but I don’t see how that’s got anything to do with those poor children.”  
“Sulfur was found at the scene of the abductions. It could be an environmental clue. It could lead up to the kidnapper.”  
Jessie nods. “Oh, okay. You’re only looking into the orphans, right?”  
Chase nods. “Yes, though if you have knowledge about any others, we can pass it along to our partners. Have there been any other signs of sulfur that you know of?”  
Jessie shakes her head, frowning. “I’m not one to ask about that. Though you could always ask the Crawfords. Their daughter went missing a couple weeks ago, but we aren’t sure if there is any connection between the two.”  
“Of course. I’ll be sure to pass along the message.”  
“If I may ask, where did you learn that I may have any knowledge on the disappearances?”  
Chase casts a long sideways glance at Harley. “Well,” she starts slowly. “We have reason to believe that another abduction might occur, and we wanted to investigate any of the younger adults in town. There seems to be an age progression with each kidnapping.”  
Jessie shifts uncomfortably. “I’m sure I have no reason to worry. If you’re asking around town, I’m sure you’ve heard about my, uh, situation.”  
“We believe your situation may put you at higher risk.” Harley says regretfully, “Our Unsub might see it as a two for one.”  
Jessie lets out a nervous laugh.   
Chase leans forward, propping her elbows on her knees, trying to seem more open and comforting. “Is there anyone you know in this town that has given you any reason to fear for yourself or your child. An ex-boyfriend. A friend. A random person that hurled an insult at you. Anything of that sort?”  
Jessie shakes her head. “No. I mean, there are plenty of underhanded comments, but only what you would expect from a small town this conservative. But I don’t think I can name anyone that has threatened me.”  
“Has anyone shown more interest than you would deem normal? Like, I don’t know, an old teacher or mentor. Anyone you trust based on circumstance, but wouldn’t have thought would normally reach out to help you.”  
Jessie pauses. “Not really, no. The only person that I really talk to about the baby is one of the supervisors of our church. She has been great help, because she herself has had three children. Just some advice on how to take care of myself. But I don’t really talk to anyone else about it and no one else has reached out.”  
“What’s her name?” Harley asks.  
“Vanessa Wali.”  
Chase nods, sitting back. “Well, thank you. And if you do hear anything from anyone that seems out of the ordinary, let us know.”  
A phone rings from the other room. “I’m so sorry. I have to get that, it might be my doctor.” Jessie gets up and leaves the room.  
“Do you want to stay with Jessie or go question Vanessa?”  
“I can go do the questioning if you want to stay here. One thing I do have to wonder though. I thought the person we’re looking for is a demon, right? Jessie says she only meets up with Vanessa at the church. How is that possible?”  
“Maybe the demon isn’t working alone? I don’t know. It’s our best lead so far.”  
“True. That and the bar. Jessie mentioned there’s been sulfur smells there. I can check out both. I’ll call you after I meet with Vanessa, okay?”  
“Sounds like a plan partner.”  
***  
Chase finds herself in an old Methodist church fit with everything stereotypical, from wooden pews, to a bell in the bell tower on top of the steeple. She hesitantly opens the doors, praying to the God she now knows is out there somewhere (though she isn’t sure if she should take Castiel’s certainty to heart yet) that Vanessa is there today.   
Scanning the room, she spots a pastor near the altar, shuffling papers, likely sermon notes. She approaches him cautiously, a hand in her pocket, ready to grab the knife at a moment’s notice.   
“Hi, can I ask you a question really quickly? Sorry, I don’t mean to disturb you,” Chase says, keeping her voice quiet in the mostly empty room.  
“No, no, always happy to help a child of God.”  
Chase flashes a smile, hoping it doesn’t look as forced as it feels. “I was told I could see a Vanessa Wali. Is she here today?”  
“She actually isn’t. What did you need her for?”  
“Oh, I was told to see her to pick up some medication for Jessie. You know, Jessie Salinas? Do you know where I can find Vanessa?”  
“She should be at her house, across the lane where the cherry trees are.”  
“Thank you! Have a nice day.”  
“Of course!” He exclaims in a bright tone. Chase waves, taking a quick exit. She rushes over to the large house across the way, the aroma of cherries strongly taking over Chase’s senses.   
Chase immediately recognizes the sickly sweet smell of Valerian Root hidden in the cherry scent. Chase shakes her head, pinching her wrist to stay alert, hoping the Valerian Root is coincidence. Of course, when has anything in her life been purely coincidence?  
A symbol scrawled hastily over the door looks like it could pass as religious, but Chase immediately recognizes it as an occult sigil. Well, shit.  
Turning on her heel, Chase redirects herself from the front porch. Pulling out her phone, she hurriedly calls Harley, already booking it back to Jessie’s house. Harley’s answering machine picks up.  
“You’ve got to be kidding me, Harley. You better be fine, or I’m going to actually kill you.”  
The door is ajar when Chase rushes up the porch steps, blanching. The room smells of Valerian Root, a thickly sweet scent that makes Chase’s eyelids droop, and she curses under her breath.  
“Harley, I swear to God.”  
***  
Harley noticed a sickly sweet smell creeping into the house and turned to Jessie. Jessie’s eyes began to droop. Harley managed to fight off sleep a little longer before collapsing. When Harley came to, Jessie was still out and they were both tied to a pole in what looked like a basement.   
“The bar,” Harley mutters under her breath, realizing the demon knocked them out with... Valerian Root?   
That doesn’t make sense. Valerian Root is more of a witchy thing. There were seven other people in the room, but only two were free. Two women were standing by a table. They were conversing over a large pewter bowl. Harley couldn’t hear them. She started undoing the rough rope behind her.  
“Hey assholes, why don’t you untie me and we’ll see how this plays out,” Harley says, pulling the witch and demon’s attention away from the ritual and onto her.  
“How are you awake already?” A woman in her late thirties with short light brown hair asked, “The Valerian Root should still be affecting you?”  
“I’m not exactly normal.” Harley spit out.  
“My, my, you’re a fun one,” The other woman says. She was in her twenties with long black hair. Her eyes flashed black for a second. “I’ll almost miss you when you’re gone.”   
The demon crouches down to Harley’s level, “I’m Hazel. These are your new friends. Rueben, Stephanie, Evangeline, Jacob, Ray, and you’ve already met dear sweet Jessie,” Hazel listed off the names pointing to each corresponding person. “But who are you dear? Hmm?”  
“What’s your pay grade? Must be pretty low if you don’t know who I am.”  
“I want to hear it out of your pretty little mouth.”  
“You aren’t too bad yourself. Are you the one that tied me up? I’m not opposed to bondage.”  
“You wish. You’re vermin that’s wandered into my trap. The dirt on my heel. You’re a disgusting worthless halfbreed.”  
“And I’m damn good at it.” Harley sneers. She gets free of her bonds, grabs Hazel’s head, and slams it down onto her knee dazing the demon. Harley pulls her gun out and shoots at the witch hitting her in the shoulder.   
***  
Chase rushes into the bar and sees Harley shoot a woman with short hair in the shoulder. Another woman straightens and goes to attack Harley from behind. Eyes widening, Chase rushes up in time to stab her short pocket knife into the back of the woman’s neck.  
“Harley, the demon blade!”  
Harley spins around and quickly assesses the situation, taking her demon blade and stabbing the woman in her stomach. The woman’s body collapses, the demon now gone. With a quick shot to the head, the witch is also dead.   
Chase breathes heavily, putting her gun back into its correct place in her waistband. Harley starts untying the kidnappees. Chase shortly follows suit.  
“I’m hungry. Wanna head back to the diner?”  
“That sounds like a great idea. Let me drop an anonymous tip to the local police and I’ll be ready to go.”  
After doing just that, Harley and Chase find their way back to Brimstone Diner.   
“How is it that you manage to get kidnapped by a demon and a witch?” Chase teases, Agnes, the same woman who served them earlier, walking away with their orders. “Losing your touch?”  
“That witch made a Valerian Root knockout bomb.”  
“I figured. Cherries can only hide the smell so much. Honestly she should’ve known better. The Valerian mixed with the cherries just made the entire place smell like it’d been drenched with cough syrup.”  
“I’m just lucky I came to when I did. Guess it’s one of the benefits of being a halfbreed.”  
Chase wrinkles her nose at the word. “I suppose.”  
Agnes comes back with two orders of pie, gives a smile, then walks off to serve other customers.   
Harley and Chase immediately begin to eat, the day’s efforts having made them extremely hungry.   
“You saved the seal,” A male voice says. Chase and Harley snap to attention, startled by the sudden appearance of Castiel. Castiel sits next to Chase in the booth, and stares between the two girls inquisitively.   
“Can you stop poofing everywhere. You’re gonna give me a heart attack,” Harley complains.  
“I do not poof,” Castiel replies sternly.  
“‘Cept you do.” Harley fires back.  
Castiel just sighs knowing that it is a waste of breath to argue with her.  
“Why do you sound surprised, anyway? About us saving the seal?” Chase asks.  
Castiel looks at them both carefully. “I did not predict the outcome of this attempt to be successful.”  
Chase looks at him, vaguely annoyed. “You sent us on a hunt you thought we’d fail? Then why even send us?”  
“My brothers and sisters were busy.”  
“Well next time let us grab weapons and stuff. We barely scraped by on what we had.” Harley says, annoyed.  
“It was best you go immediately.”  
Chase rolls her eyes. “Well, if you wouldn’t mind taking us back once we’re finished with our food, that’d be great.”  
Castiel nods slowly. “Alright.”  
***  
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to poofing,” Chase says, disoriented after being transported back to the motel. “Also, quick question, you did tell Sam and Dean where we were, right?”  
Castiel suddenly looks more uncomfortable than normal. “They were both otherwise engaged. Dean should be able to fill you two in on what happened to him.”  
“And Sam?”  
“Sam is an unreliable source,” Castiel says evasively.   
“How is Sam an unreliable source? We’ve known him longer than you,” Harley questions.  
“Dean is about to leave to find Sam. You can catch up to him easily, since he only now left.”  
“Okay, thanks. Wanna tell us where we’re going?” Chase asks.  
“425 Waterman,” Castiel responds quietly. “But, I’m warning you. You won’t like what you find.”


	4. Metamorphosis

Chase speeds down the highway, easily finding and following the Impala like Cas said they’d be able to. Upon arriving at an old warehouse, Harley and Chase climb out of the Lincoln and follow behind Dean, who rolls his eyes, but isn’t surprised to see them. 

They wind down a corridor, towards a room where they can hear Sam and two other people speaking; a man and a woman.

Peeking into the crack of the doorway, the three of them watch the scene before them carefully, equal parts concerned and shocked. 

“Where’s Lilith?” Sam demands a man tied to a chair. A demon.

“Kiss my ass.” The demon’s eyes flash black, a smile twisting on his face.

“I'd watch myself if I were you.”

“Why, huh? Because you’re Sam Winchester?” The demon taunts. “Mr. Big Hero? And yet, here you are, slutting it up with some demon. Real hero.”

Chase physically recoils in shock, her eyes flashing to the woman standing near Sam. Harley doesn’t react outwardly, but her mind does immediately start running circles about the situation.

“Shut your mouth,” Sam demands angrily.

“Tell me about those months without your brother. The ones where you ignored your sister and friend. About all the things you and this demon bitch do in the dark.” Sam and the woman look at each other. “Huh? Tell me.”

Sam holds out an arm towards the demon and clenches his fist, focusing all his energy on the demon in front of him. The demon begins to choke, black smoke pouring out of his mouth, obviously causing the demon pain. The smoke burns through the ground. 

Finally, Sam drops his hand. He goes over to the man and checks for a pulse. 

“How’d it feel?” The woman asks. 

“Good. No more headaches,” Sam says.

“None? That’s good.”

The man begins to stir and Sam walks over to him helping him up, “Hey, hey. I got you. It's all right.” They start to head towards the door when Dean opens it.

“So. Anything you wanna tell us, Sam?” Dean asks. Sam looks at the three of them in shock. 

“Dean, hold on, okay,” Sam starts. 

“What, you gonna say ‘let me explain’? How are you going to explain this, Sam?”

“It's good to see you again, Dean,” The woman says. “Chase, Harley,” She nods, acknowledging each of them. 

“Ruby?” Harley asks in disbelief.

“Is that Ruby?” Dean demands Sam.

Sam doesn’t answer. Dean takes this as enough proof, however, and grabs Ruby and slams her against a wall. He pulls out the demon knife and goes to stab her, but Sam stops him. 

“Don’t!” he shouts, grabbing Dean and pulling him off Ruby. They struggle for the knife, and in a quick blur of movements, Dean has Sam pressed against the wall. Ruby grabs Dean and pulls him off of Sam, slamming him against the wall.   
They stare at each other in anger. Chase has an arm out lazily, gesturing for Harley to refrain from stabbing Ruby. For now.

Ruby and Dean fight for a bit then Ruby pins Dean against the wall.

“Ruby, stop!” Sam says. Ruby pauses, but lets go of Dean, who rises to his full height and attempts to put distance between himself and them. 

“Well, aren’t you an obedient little bitch?” Dean spits out.

Ruby glares at him, but steps closer to Sam. 

“Ruby.” Ruby ignores Sam, who huffs. “Ruby, he’s hurt,” he says, gesturing to the man that had been previously tied to the chair. “Go.” Ruby starts to help the man to the door. 

“Where the hell do you think you're going?” Dean asks Ruby.

“The ER... unless you want to go another round first.” Ruby says.

Dean gives no response, and doesn’t look at her again as she leaves. Finally, it’s just Harley and the three Winchesters.

“Guys,” Sam starts. 

“You should’ve told us,” Harley says.

“I know. I’m sorry,” Sam says.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it Sammy,” Dean says before leaving.

Chase looks torn for a moment, before just shaking her head and walking out. 

“I’ll be waiting in Jack. Come out when you want to,” Chase says to Harley, avoiding Sam’s gaze, feeling guilty and angry at once.

“Chase, wait-” Sam starts, but stops himself as she lets the door close behind her.

“Look Sam, I get it. Trust me I’m all for giving monsters the benefit of the doubt. Just give everyone some time. It took some time when y’all found out I lied about being completely human. It’ll take some time now,” Harley says before leaving.

Harley makes her way out to find Dean already gone and Chase sitting in Jack in silence. Upon climbing into the Lincoln, Chase starts the car and leaves, heading back to the motel. 

“Should I hear him out?” Chase asks, interrupting the thick silence.

“Yeah, I think so,” Harley sighs.

“I hate that you’re probably right, you know.”

“I mean maybe Ruby is actually helping him. I get it; having these powers is bound to take a toll on him and unfortunately he isn’t comfortable letting us know that. I get why he went to her. She’s supposed to be on the wrong side. She has a better chance of understanding than a human.”

“I guess it does make sense in a way. But, I just don’t trust her. Something about her is just,” Chase huffs, thinking carefully about her words. “Something is just off. Honestly, though, everything feels off right now. Maybe it’s just stress,” she sighs. 

“Well, if it’s still off in a week it’s probably just off.” Harley laughs.

“Okay. Yeah, okay. I’ll hear him out, and give it a week. But the moment,” Chase says, holding a finger up, gesturing to Harley pointedly. “The  _ moment  _ I am given reason to, I will put a bullet through Ruby’s head and expect you to help me by stabbing her.”

“Okay, okay, shame her meat suit would die though. She’s cute.”

“You radiate disaster bisexual energy,” Chase laughs. “But you definitely aren’t wrong.”

“Well I am a disaster, and I am bi. So, yeah checks out.”

***

Chase takes a deep breath, raising her hand to knock on her brothers’ motel door. She looks to Harley, who gives her a small smile of reassurance. Nodding, Chase knocks.

“Yeah?” she hears Sam ask from inside. 

“It’s me and Harley.”

Sam opens the door almost immediately, worry and relief showing on his face. “Harley and I. Do you want to come in?”

Chase laughs at Sam’s correction- something he’d been doing since they were kids. She steps into the room, Harley closely following her. They both sit on the bed, across from the table where Sam sits. 

“You have ten minutes to explain yourself. Mainly about why you didn’t tell us about it and what you can do. Also, I’d like to hear about why the Hell you trust Ruby now, but that’s a secondary concern. My first is, are you okay?” Chase says in a rush, wanting to get the conversation over with.

“Yes, I’m okay. I just… There’s demon blood running through my veins. It’s like a disease I can’t get rid of. Dean was gone and I went awol. Ruby offered to help me and I took it. I just felt so lost. I didn’t know what to do. I should’ve said something. I really am sorry. I just didn’t know how to tell you, or how you’d react. Dean already looks at me like I’m some kind of a freak. I didn’t want it to get any worse.” Sam explains.

“I can understand that, Sam,” Chase says. “But you can’t just pawn it off on Dean dying. Because I was still here. Harley was still here. So was Bobby! Hell, anyone else, other than Ruby.” Chase takes a deep breath, looking to her hands. “But okay. You’re right, you should have told us. But I also can’t blame you, because I have absolutely no idea what I would’ve done, or how I would’ve reacted upon you telling me you wanted to work with Ruby. So, okay. I accept that this is how things are. 

“But,” Chase says looking back up at Sam, who wears a face of relief, “Like I told Harley. The second I am given reason, Ruby is dead, and you are on my ticked list, got it?”

Sam laughs, standing up. “Of course, of course, thank you!” He pulls Chase up from the bed and hugs her tightly. He then lets go and repeats this action with Harley.

“If you ever need someone who gets the whole monster blood flowing through their veins, but still human thing you know where to find me, Sammy,” Harley says, pulling away from the giant, “I can mostly relate.”

“Right, I guess I’m just so used to it I forgot,” Sam says, referring to Harley’s vampirism.

“I wish I could,” Harley confides.

Dean enters the room, drawing the attention of the other three. He spares them a glance, seeming angry at finding a peaceful interaction happening between Chase, Harley and Sam. He walks over to his bed, the one that isn’t being occupied by Chase and Harley’s sitting forms. He begins to shove clothes into a bag angrily.

“Dean, what are you doing?” Sam asks.

Sam is ignored, prompting him to ask again. “What, are you, are you leaving?”

“You don’t need me,” Dean says. His words cause the others to frown. “You and Ruby go hunt demons.”

Chase scoffs. Dean turns to glare at her as he passes, heading for the door.

“Hold on, Dean,” Sam says, blocking Dean’s way. Dean steps to go around him. “Come on, man.”

Dean whirls around suddenly, punching Sam across the jaw, glaring at him, shaking with anger. Chase gasps in shock.

“Dean!” Harley exclaims, quickly getting in between the two boys, “Fighting won’t do us any good.”

“Stay out of this, Harley,” Dean snaps.

“So, what? You satisfied now?” Sam asks.

Dean pushes past Harley and punches Sam again. “Guess not.”

Chase stands up and shoves Dean back, glaring at him. “Dean, stop. Harley’s right. This isn’t what we should be doing.”

“So we should just accept this?” Dean demands. He turns to Sam, who is being helped off the ground by Harley. “Do you even know how far off the reservation you’ve gone? How far from normal? From human?” 

“Wow, Dean, and you wonder why he didn’t tell you. Do you have any idea how hard it is to be not quite human? It tears you apart inside. Then you have the people close to you talking like it makes you less of a person. It hurts. Dean!” Harley yells, tearing up before storming out of the room, roughly pushing past Dean.

Dean looks sorry for half a second, before anger takes over again. He turns on Chase. “And I’m assuming you agree.”

Chase takes a step back, and Sam shields her with himself. 

“I’m just exorcising demons, Dean.”

“With your mind!”

“Dean,” Chase snaps. “That’s enough. You’ve already hurt Harley, who you care a lot about. You really wanna hurt more people?”

Dean glares at her. She shakes her head at him.

“You know what, Dean. You two obviously have to work this out. But until you do, don’t talk to me, okay?” Chase says. Dean looks hurt.

“You’re really taking his side.”

“I’m not taking anyone’s side. You both messed up. But at least Sam has apologized for lying to me. You can’t expect me to not forgive him. I forgive you. Time and time again. Harley forgives you. Hell, what you said to Sam, now Harley is going to know you thought about her, if only a little. And now, I’m not sure where I stand with either of you two, but I know Harley is my best friend, so until you apologize to her, which means figuring shit out with Sam first, I don’t want to hear it.”

Chase storms out of the room, and sighs when the door closes. She hears Sam and Dean begin to yell at each other more. Shaking her head, she walks into her and Harley’s motel room. 

“Hey, Harley. What Dean said was shitty. I’m sorry he said that to you.”

“It’s fine. I’ll get over it. I just... It sucks. I’m not just one thing. My life is so...grey. Sometimes it just gets to be too much. My whole existence feels wrong, and to a certain extent it is. In my early days I had to feed off bloody steak. It barely made a dent, but it kept me from passing out. Now I finally found people who I can properly feed around, and Dean has to make not being human sound bad. I mean it is, but still,” Harley sighs letting the tears she’s been holding in fall, “I’m a monster, and that’s all I ever will be.”

“I’m pretty sure we’re all a little grey,” Chase says, sitting next to Harley. She holds out her arms, ready to be of any help. “And I’m sorry I don’t know what to say. How about we get pie and just relax or something?”

“Sounds like a plan. Can we stop by the blood bank too? I’m out.”

“Sure.”

***

When the girls got back Sam and Dean were waiting outside for them. 

“Look I know you’re both pissed at me, but we have a job to do. Travis called. He needs our help,” Dean says walking up to the girls after they walk past them.

“Anything you’d like to say first?” Chase asks, gesturing to Harley with her head slightly. 

At the movement, Dean opens his mouth to speak, before just sighing, guilt easy to read on his face. “Look, Harley. I really am sorry about what I said. Things are confusing right now, and I shouldn’t have spoken so quickly when I’m not only just letting my anger get to me, but also hurting both you and Sam. So, I’m sorry.”

“I’ll get over it. Just give me some time?”

“Anything for you, sweetheart.” Dean says smiling a sad smile, all his usual energy gone.

“Where are we heading?” Harley asks.

“Carthage, Missouri,” Sam supplies, “Looking for Jack Montgomery.”

“Who?” Chase asks. “Wait, are we looking for a demon again or something else?”

“No demons that we can tell. Just a plain, old monster hunt.”

Chase nods, smiling slightly. “Been awhile since we’ve had one of those. Sounds refreshing.”

“Sounds perfect,” Harley adds, “I think I’m gonna ride with the boys on this one. Gives us a chance to work things out. Maybe it’ll help.” 

“Oh, yeah, sure. I’m just gonna try getting there before you now, see if I can have time for pie first. Don’t worry, I’ll pick you up some,” Chase laughs. 

Chase and Harley walk over to Jack and transfer a couple of Harley’s items into Baby. “Dean, come be a gentleman and grab this bag, will you?”

Dean rolls his eyes. “Sure thing, little sis.”

Chase bites back a retort, knowing full well that Dean is only baiting her. Baby is all loaded up with Harley’s stuff and the friends part ways on the road. Sam offered Harley the front seat and she took it after much insisting.

***

At night on the way to Carthage, Harley called Chase because Dean was talking about his trip into the past yesterday. Harley and Dean had already talked the whole mess from earlier out.

“Alright bye, I’ll see you when we get there,” Harley says before hanging up.

“I can't believe it. Mom, a hunter?” Sam says in disbelief.

“I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it myself. That woman could kick some ass. I mean, she almost took me down.” Dean adds.

“How'd she look? I mean... was she happy?”

“Yeah, she was awesome. Funny and smart. So hopeful,” Dean looks at Sam then back at the road, “Dad, too. Until of course…”

Harley felt like she was interrupting a family moment, and Sam sighed looking out the window.

“What?” Dean asked.

“Nothing… It's just, our parents. And now we find out our grandparents too? Our whole family murdered and for what? So Yellow Eyes could get in my nursery and bleed in my mouth?”

“I never said anything about demon blood.”

“Dean,” Harley said resting her hand on Dean’s arm, “Let it go. There’s been enough hurt today.”

“I should have told you.”

“You’ve been saying that a lot lately.” Dean sighs, staring out at the road, occasionally glancing back at Chase’s Lincoln. “But it’s okay. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.”

Sam, Harley, and Dean lapse into a silence that isn’t quite uncomfortable, but isn’t comfortable either. 

Chase follows them, blasting classic rock at top volume, hoping that this ends up being a normal monster hunt for once. It’d been so long, she was hopeful that this would be clean and easy, and there would be no angel sightings or demon sightings.

***

“Are you sure that’s him?” Chase asks, gazing at Jack Montgomery through a pair of binoculars. He reaches into a fridge and pulls out a beer, walking away calmly to lean against the counter. “He looks a little...normal for us.”

“Only Jack Montgomery in town,” Sam replies. 

“And we’re looking for what exactly?” Harley asks, taking a turn with Chase’s binoculars. 

“Travis said to keep an eye out for anything weird.”

“Weird how?” Dean and Chase ask simultaneously. 

“Just weird.”

“Yeah, well, we’ve seen little weird, big weird, and weird on top of crazy,” Dean says. “But this guy?”

“This guy is just boring,” Harley adds. 

“I don’t know, guys,” Sam says, grabbing an extra pair of binoculars. “Travis seemed pretty sure.”

They all take a pair of binoculars and watch Jack closely. He calls into another room a couple of times, but other than that, doesn’t do anything odd. 

Eventually, he wanders back over to the fridge and grabs a leftover tupperware with what looks like chicken. Leaning back against the counter island behind him, he starts to eat it quickly, not bothering with utensils. 

While it might be the strangest thing he’s done all night, it certainly isn’t the strangest thing Chase has seen. Chase herself has done that before, though not quite as messily.

It isn’t until he finishes and reaches back into the fridge that the four begin to get weirded out by Jack’s actions. Jack pulls out a package of raw meat and begins to ravenously eat the entire thing, raw meat and blood smearing across his hands and face.

Suddenly, he jolts up, glancing behind him. He wipes his hands and face, and walks calmly into the other room. 

Glancing at each other, the three Winchesters realize they all wear the same look of disgust. Harley looks unfazed.

“Okay, so not normal,” Chase says.

“And certainly not boring,” Harley adds, nodding. 

“Yeah,” Sam agrees. “I’d say that qualifies as weird.”

“He might be like me? Raw meat was the only way my parents let me feed,” Harley says, almost sounding excited.

***

The four hunters enter the motel room they’ve been directed to and find Travis sitting at the table, a beer in hand.

“See, Sam. Told you we should have hid the beer,” Dean says smiling. 

Travis, the boys, and Chase all walked toward each other. 

“Smartass. Get over here,” Travis says pulling Dean into a hug, “Ahh. Good to see you.”

Travis pulls Sam into a hug next, “Good to see you.”

“You too, Travis.”

Finally he hugs Chase, “And good to see you.”

“Nice seeing you again, Travis.”

“Man, you got tall, kid,” Travis says, his last comment directed at Sam. Everyone laughs at it.

“How long has it been?” Travis asks.

“Ah, gotta be 10 years,” Sams says.

“You still a.. oh, what was it... a mathlete?” 

Sam scoff, “No.”

“Yep, sure is,” Dean counters.

“Been too long. I mean look at you. All grown, and you got a new person around.” Travis says. 

Harley begins to walk up to the rest of the group, “Hi. I’m Harley Pawlak,” She awkwardly waves at Travis standing between Chase and Dean.

“Nice to meet you, Harley. You must be a good person if you can put up with these three idiots.”

They all laugh at that comment, while Chase feigns mock hurt. Sitting down at the table, Sam gets out his computer, and the others get out a few books, ready to look up information about what creature they might be dealing with. 

“Thanks for helping out an old man. I’m a little, uh, shorthanded,” Travis says, indicating his cast-bound right arm. “So, did you track down Montgomery?”

“Yeah,” Chase says. 

“We found him at his home,” Harley adds for clarification. 

“And?” Travis asks.

“Well,” Dean starts. “He had a Hell of a case for the munchies, topped off with a burger he forgot to cook.”

Chase snorts slightly at the comment. 

“That’s him alright.”

“What is he?” Harley asks. “Do you have any theories?”

Travis nods, taking a breath. “Boys, girls, we got a rougarou on our hands.”

“A rougarou?” Dean asks. He glances at the others. “Is that made up?”

“No, Dean,” Chase sighs. 

“What? It sounds made up.”

“It’s not,” Harley says. Chase and her had run into one awhile back, a few years ago. It had already gone through the transition by the time they’d discovered the town. It leaves piles of bodies behind it. “They’re not pretty.”

“They’re mean, nasty little suckers,” Travis explains. “Rotted teeth, wormy skin, the works.”

“Well, that ain’t this guy,” Dean says. “This guy wears his cell phone on his belt.”

“He’ll turn ugly soon enough,” Travis says. “They start out human for all intents and purposes.”

“So, what? They go through some kind of metamorphosis?” Sam asks.

“Yep. Like a maggot turning into a bull fly.” Travis looks at the four young hunters, intently trying to get his point across. “But most of all, they’re hungry.”

“For what?” Dean asks. 

“At first, for everything. Then, soon after, for long pig.”

Sam gasps, and Chase and Harley’s faces grow grim, remembering the bodies they’d found and inspected on their last run in with one.

Dean however, looks confused, causing Sam to roll his eyes at his older brother. “For human flesh, Dean.”

“And that is my word of the day,” Dean jokes, his tone of voice serious.

“Hunger grows in,” Travis starts again, explaining the process further. “Until they can’t fight it anymore. Until they got to take a big, juicy chomp, and then it happens.”

“What happens?”

“That’s the trigger,” Chase says. “After that, they can’t stop from transforming.”

“They transform fast too,” Travis agrees. “One bite is all it takes. Eyes, teeth, skin; all turns. No going back either. They feed once, there isn’t any going back. They’re a monster forever.”

Harley and Sam both tense in their seats, each on either side of Chase. Dean notices Harley tense, being on her other side. Luckily, Travis doesn’t notice either. He also doesn’t notice Dean reaching down under the table and gently placing a reassuring hand on Harley’s knee, flashing her a small smile. She gives him a weak smile in return.

“And our man Jack is headed there on a bullet train,” Travis finishes, oblivious to the four hunters. 

“Well, how’d you find this guy if he’s a walking, talking human?” Dean asks. 

“Let’s say it runs in the family.”

“Meaning?” Chase asks. 

“Killed his dad back in ‘78. Son of a bitch mangled eight bodies before I put him down. He used to be a dentist. Cadillac, trophy wife. Unbeknownst to me, a pregnant trophy wife. She put the kid up for adoption and he got lost in the system.”

“You mean to tell me you couldn’t find someone?” Sam asks in disbelief. 

“I’m not sure I wanted to,” Travis admits. “The idea of hunting down some poor kid. No, I wanted to wait until I knew I got the right damn guy. As it turns out, I do.”

He takes a swig of beer, letting the news settle over the group, each eyeing each other with concern. 

“I’m going to be right back, okay?” Sam says. They all nod to him and he takes his leave. 

Chase and Harley wander over to the bed and begin taking out weapons, looking for anything they can use to help them, having killed one before and knowing their weakness. Dean and Travis drink more beer, sitting in silence for at least ten minutes.

“So, how do we take him out?” Dean asks. 

Travis sighs. “I know how to kill him. Come help me with this.” Travis gets up, and starts pulling out fire extinguisher-looking gas cans. 

“So, fire, huh?” Dean says. 

“Yeah,” Chase nods. “When Harley and I ran into the one, we didn’t know. We put so many bullets into it, but it wouldn’t die. Finally, we used a small makeshift bomb on it. The explosion didn’t kill it, but the fire hurt it enough for us to realize.”

“You gotta deep fry ‘em,” Travis says. “You two are smart. Gotta lot more respect for you now, girls.”

The two roll their eyes at the slightly sexist comment, but don’t say anything about it.

“That’s gonna be horrible. Is that what you did to Jack’s dad?” Dean asks.

“Uh huh,” Travis says matter-of-factly. 

Sam comes back into the room, eyebrows raising at them all. Chase and Harley eye the papers in his hands, but make no comments. “Don’t waste any time, do you?”

“None to waste. The guy hulks out, we won’t be finding bodies. Just remains.”

Sam sits down on the bed Harley and Chase are working on, causing them to scoff. “What if he doesn’t hulk out, though?” Sam asks. Harley and Chase immediately pause and turn their full attention to him. “Look, I just did a little homework. I was just, uh, checking out some lore on rougarous, and there’s some interesting information.”

“What?” Travis asks, looking slightly offended. “My thirty years of experience not enough for you?” 

“I’m sure that isn’t what he meant,” Chase snaps. “Hear him out.”

“I-I just wanted to be prepared man,” Sam stutters out, looking at the other three for help. “I mean, not that you. That you didn’t-”

“Sam just loves research. He does. He keeps it under his mattress next to his KY at night. It’s a sickness.” Sam shoots him a look. “It is!” Dean defends.

“Look,” Sam begins to explain. “Everything you said checked out, of course, but, uh, I found a couple things. A couple of interesting stories about people who have this rougarou gene or whatever. See, they start to turn, but they never take the final step.”

Harley and Chase shoot a look at each other, intrigued. 

“Really?” Dean asks.

“Yeah! See, if they never eat human flesh, then they never fully transform.”

“So, what?” Dean asks. “Go vegan, stay human?”

“Basically. Or in this case, eat a lot of raw meat,” Sam answers, shooting a sideways glance at Harley. “Just not…”

“Long pig,” Dean finishes. 

“Right.”

Dean smiles, looking happy with the information, as well as Chase and Harley. Travis, however, just watches them all closely in silence. Slowly, he stands. 

“Good on you for due diligence, Sam.” He walks over to the small coffee pot in the corner of the motel. “But those are fairy tales.”

“What makes you so sure?” Harley asks.

“Fact is, every rougarou that I’ve ever heard of or seen took that bite.”

“Okay, well that doesn’t mean Jack is going to,” Sam responds, standing. 

“So what do we do? Sit around and wait for a body count?”

“No. We tell him. Explain everything that’s happening. That way he can fight it.”

“Fight it?” Travis asks doubtfully. “Are you kidding me?” He laughs slightly. “Have you ever been hungry? Like, haven’t-eaten-in-days hungry?”

“Yes,” almost all the hunters chorus. Sam had stayed silent.

Travis momentarily looks uncomfortable, before the look fades. “Right, yeah. So, somebody slaps a big, juicy sirloin in front of you. You gonna walk away from that?”

“No,” Dean says quietly. 

“Yes,” Harley responds.

Chase, knowing what she is referring to, covers it up. “Yeah, same. If I saw someone else that needed it more, I’d refuse,” she says, thinking back on when she gave a lot of her food to Sam when they were children. “Meaning, if you know it’s important enough, you can. Jack could resist it too.”

Travis groans. “All we are to him are walking meals. I’m sorry, I’m sure he’s a stand up guy, but this is base, pure instinct. Everything in nature’s gotta eat. You think he can stop himself because he’s nice?”

“Yes,” Chase mutters, luckily covered up by Sam.

“I don’t know,” Sam says. “But I do know we aren’t killing him unless he does something worth being killed for.”

Sam takes a deep breath before walking out of the room. 

“What’s wrong with your brother?” Travis asks Dean. Chase rolls her eyes.

“I agree with him,” Harley says.

“So do I.”

Dean stays silent, but looks guilty. 

Upon leaving the room, Chase and Harley catch the last bit of conversation.

“What’s wrong with all of them?”

Dean sighs. “Don’t even get me started.”

***

“They should be here by now,” Harley says.

“Dean probably said something stupid,” Chase guesses.

“Probably, I love that man, but he can’t keep his mouth shut for the life of him.”

“You what him?” Chase asks, moving her eyebrows in a teasing manner, a dopey grin on her face.

“Platonically. I love him platonically.”

“Sure,” Chase says, stretching out the word.

Harley was spared Chase’s teasing when Baby pulled up. The boy’s got out of the car and the group of four snuck into Jack’s backyard. 

“Jack Montgomery?” Sam calls out.

The man took a moment before turning around.

“I’m Sam Winchester. This is my brother Dean, my sister Chase, and our friend Harley Pawlak… We need to talk.”

“About?” Jack asks.

“About you. About how you’re changing.”

“Excuse you?”

“You're probably feeling your bones move under your skin. And your appetite's reaching, you know, "hungry hungry hippo" levels. How am I doing so far?” Dean asks.

“Who the hell are you guys?”

“We’re people doing our best to help,” Chase says.

“I’m just going to rip the band-aid off. Look, Jack, you’re a rougarou,” Harley says.

“A-a what?” Jack asks.

“A rougarou. Sounds made-up, I know, but believe me, it's not,” Dean says.

“Alright, I've noticed certain things. I mean, some strange things. But I just, I-I don't know. I'm.. I'm sick or something.”

“Your father was one of these things,” Sam says.

“Your real father. He passed it on to you,” Chase clarifies.

“No. Are-are you guys listening to yourselves? You s-sound like you're-” Jack starts.

“Crazy? We know, but it’s the truth. You’re only gonna get hungrier,” Harley says.

“Hungrier for?”

“Long pig. You know, a little manburger helper, may have crossed your mind already,” Dean says. 

“No.”

“Jack, I get it. I have to drink blood to function. Everyone looks and smells delicious. If you eat a lot of raw meat and have a lot of will power you’ll be fine,” Harley speaks up.

“You’re a vampire?”

“Yes.”

“Get off my property right now. I see you guys again, I'm calling the cops.”

“Jack, your wife, everybody you know, they're in danger,” Sam implores.

“I know they are. There’s a vampire on my property!” Jack’s shouting caused his neighbor to look their way.

The hunters left the yard and stood by their cars gauging Harley’s reaction. She noticed.

“What?” She asks.

“Are you okay?” Dean asks.

“Yeah. It’s not like a friend said it,” Harley laughs, “Why would I give a rat’s ass about his opinion? I am  _ amazing _ .”

***

The girls sat in back of Baby. The group decided to only take the one car as they tailed Jack Montgomery. It was less conspicuous. Jack starts heading back to his house. As they pulled up they saw Travis’ car. 

“I guess now we know where Travis is.”

They all got out of the car and start walking towards the house.

“That stupid son of a bitch.”

Dean enters the house first eyeing the stairs. The group makes their way to the living room. Upon arriving, they see a giant pool of blood on the carpet. It trails behind the couch. Harley takes a deep breath inhaling the metallic scent. Sam notices a piece of meat on the ground and walks up to it. He could see Travis’ body at the new angle.

“Guys I think you better see this.” 

The rest of the group went over to Sam and saw the body.

“Oh, God. Think that's Travis?” Dean asks.

“What’s left of him,” Sam responds, he looks so defeated, “Guess you were right about Jack.” 

Jack jumps Dean knocking him into the coffee table. It breaks and Dean is out like a light. Sam and Chase are smart and ready their flamethrowers, but Harley punches him square in the jaw. Her class ring leaves an imprint in his face. It’s stupid and reckless, but it buys Chase and Sam time. Jack spits out blood onto the floor and turns to Harley punching her in the gut. It sends her falling to the ground, but gives Sam and Chase a perfect opening to fry the bastard. Harley, not missing a beat, rolls away from Jack into the pool of blood, and Chase and Sam shoot. Jack falls to the floor burning. Sam looks disappointed. Harley gets up clutching her stomach.

“You okay?” Chase asks.

Harley pulls up her shirt and inspects her stomach, “No internal bleeding. I’ll be fine. Just have a nasty bruise for the next couple of weeks,” She says, putting her shirt back down, “Let’s get back to the motel. I could use a change, and a shower. I smell like dinner and it’s making me hungry.”


End file.
